1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in a hand-held cosmetic powder brush applicator apparatus and more particularly, to a cosmetic brush applicator apparatus of the type stated which enables provision of a brush along with a supply of the cosmetic powder all in a single assembly and which also provides for protection of the brush when a cap is located thereon.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
It is well known that in the art of cosmetic application brushes and more particularly brushes of this type which are often sold under the name “Kabuki brush”, that there are numerous problems and limitations associated with the use of such brushes. Frequently, those people attempting to apply cosmetic powder to their face or other body parts will typically carry the brush along with a separate powder containing source, such as a small container of facial powder. As a result, not only is the user confronted with the problem of carrying the brush, but he or she must also make provision for carrying a separate container of the cosmetic powder.
One of the simple but obvious problems in using a separate brush and source of powder is the necessity to provide a powder applicator brush and a separate powder container for the powder. This not only duplicates the necessity of dealing with two individual cosmetic items, but complicates the actual application of the facial powder. With this arrangement, one must attempt to dip the brush into the powder and apply that powder to the user's face. The user must also be careful to avoid any spilling of the powder, or otherwise creating a mess in the process of applying the powder to the user's face. Even where there is a slight inadvertence and some of the powder may spill, the user typically does not have those cleaning items necessary to clean up the spill that he or she may have created.
Although there have been numerous attempts to combine a brush with an assembly having a container holding the cosmetic powder, the prior art has resorted to a rather complicated and expensive means for applying the powder to the brush. As a simple example, in the Byun U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,939, there is a cylinder-powder holding container arrangement in which the cylinder is pushed actually inwardly into a body of the container and forces the powder through discharge openings at an end thereof. In effect, this construction uses a pressure pump arrangement to force the cosmetic powder to move into the bristles of the brush through a pumping action.
There are other devices which have been proposed in the prior art for applying a cosmetic powder to a user and which includes a means for storage of the brush when not in use. Other devices of this type provide a housing where a brush is slidably inserted into the housing when the brush is not in use. A device of this type is taught in the Choi U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,402. This device is limited in its usefulness in that one must still exercise substantial care when attempting to place a removable cap on the brush assembly.
When installing a cap on a brush apparatus, some of the bristles of the brush tend to bend slightly outwardly. When the ends of the bristles are engaged by an edge of the cap, the bristles are bent as the cap is installed on the brush housing. As a result, pushing of the cap over the brush assembly will often cause the edge of the cap to engage ends of one or more of the bristles and bend same, thereby aggravating the problem which the cap is designed to solve. However, heretofore there has not been any brush apparatus of this type which effectively precludes the damage to the bristles when applying a cap over the entire bristle assembly.
There has been a proposed applicator in which a brush is brought into contact with a cosmetic powder by bringing the tips of the bristles into contact with a stick type powder cake. However, the cosmetic is not evenly applied to the brush with this approach and will not be evenly applied to the face or other body portion of the user. In many cases, since the brush itself is carried apart from the container of cosmetic powder, the brush can become contaminated with foreign substances. Some of these substances when contacted with the powder will cause degradation to the powders, such as facial powder. As a result, this approach also is disadvantageous and one which is not favored by many users. One such arrangement of this type is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,864 to Tahara.
Another problem frequently encountered with the use of a cosmetic brush and a separate container for holding the powder is that of the container inadvertently opening. This would often cause a spilling of the powder into the purse or carrying bag or other carrying container of the user. In addition, and in some cases, the powder can be fairly expensive, thus resulting in a monetary loss to the user.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a cosmetic powder applicator apparatus in which a source of powder was available within the brush apparatus but only selectively applied to the bristles of the brush upon demand by a user and which also provides for covering of the bristles without damage to the bristles when not in use.